Multiple choice

Direction: The following sentence tests correctness and effectiveness of expression. Part of each sentence or the entire sentence is underlined; beneath each sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Choice A repeats the original phrasing; the other four choices are different. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice A; if not, select one of the other choices.

Some buildings that were destroyed and heavily damaged in the Gujarat earthquake last year were constructed in violation of the city’s building code.

  1. Some buildings that were destroyed and heavily damaged in the Gujarat earthquake last year

  2. Some buildings that were destroyed or heavily damaged in the Gujarat earthquake last year had been

  3. Some buildings that the earthquake destroyed and heavily damaged last year in Gujarat have been

  4. Last year the Gujarat earthquake destroyed or heavily damaged some buildings that have been

  5. Last year some of the buildings that were destroyed or heavily damaged in the Gujarat earthquake had been
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

(2): Choices A and C illogically state that some buildings were destroyed and damaged; “or” is needed to indicate that the buildings suffered either of the fate. The tense ”were” fails to indicate that the buildings were constructed before the earthquake occurred. Thus “had been” is the right tense. E suggests that the construction took place last year and not the earthquake.

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